Star Wars: Actress Kelly Marie Tran Addresses Future as Rose Tico

Kelly Marie Tran says she misses Rose, but doesn't know if she could perform the role again.

By Andrew Gilman Updated:
Kelly Marie Tran Star Wars Rose Poster

While the reception of the latest wave of Star Wars films has been mixed, for the actors, working on the projects was the experience of a lifetime.

This can certainly be said for Daisy Ridley, who has expressed many times that she'd be willing to return to Rey; however, she would need the story for the character to be as satisfying as the process of making the Sequel Trilogy films was for her. John Boyega seemingly had a bit of an unpleasant experience while playing Finn at times, but he's since changed his tune and seems willing to work in the world of Star Wars again.

Many of the newcomers in the recent trilogy have taken some heat over the last few years; the vast majority of criticisms were not personal, but were more directed towards the characters and writing. Kelly Marie Tran, who debuted in The Last Jedi as Rose Tico, was right at the top of the list.

How does Tran feel about her Star Wars experience, and what does she think of Rose now? The answers have finally arrived...

KELLY MARIE TRAN MISSES ROSE

In an interview with Cissy Jones for IGN , actress Kelly Marie Tran said she misses playing Rose Tico, and the person she was at the time of playing her:

"I miss Rose. I mean, I maybe miss who I was when I played her..."

The actress elaborated on this thought by saying that she's unsure if she could play the character in a future project:

"I don't know if I could play her now, I feel like I'm different. I think so many times in our lifetimes we are constantly growing and learning, and the realm of human experience is so limitless; you can be so many different people at one time. But when I think about Rose specifically, I think about who I was then, and how I was able to tap into certain parts of myself, and I don't know if I could play her again."

COULD TRAN RETURN TO PLAY ROSE AGAIN?

Like so many things in life, time changes everything. As Tran says in the interview, she's already changed so much as a person since The Last Jedi's cameras began rolling in 2016, and with that passage of time comes many life experiences that alter one's worldview.

In the five years since Tran first played Rose, she's undoubtedly changed. Later in the interview, she and Jones noted that Rose's defining characteristic was her innocence, and Tran quipped that she now feels like an old lady when thinking back to those earlier days of her career. Some of this may be attributed to the reception of Rose by the fans, as well as some of the social media blowback Tran received, while the rest is just a natural part of learning and aging.

There was no dramatic ending for Rose in The Rise of Skywalker ; in fact, the character was seldom featured in the film at all. It's a blank slate for Rose going forward, with a wide plethora of story options that Lucasfilm can pursue for her. With stories that may transpire many years down the road, both in the Star Wars timeline and in real life, Tran may be able to relate to the position Rose finds herself in at that phase of her life and pull off a return to the role.

While it was certainly a bumpy ride for Rose Tico in the Sequel Trilogy, fans would certainly welcome Kelly Marie Tran back with open arms and be willing to see where any future storytellers may push her across the stars.

- About The Author: Andrew Gilman

STAR WARS Writer